There’s a chill wind blowing through the corridors of Broadcasting House, and it has nothing to do with the heating budget cuts. Tim Davie, the BBC’s Director-General, has issued a stark warning that should worry anyone who cares about British storytelling on the global stage: the streamers are pulling up the drawbridge. In a candid address to the industry, Davie revealed that Netflix and Amazon are increasingly walking away from the co-production model that has underpinned the financing of premium British drama for the last decade. In short, the deep-pocketed Americans no longer want to share their toys, and they’re taking their ball home.
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For years, the formula was a beautiful marriage of convenience. The BBC or ITV would bring the British talent, the unique voice, the period costumes, and the cultural cachet. Netflix would bring the vast sums of cash needed to make it look glossy enough to sit next to *The Crown* in the algorithm. Shows like *Bodyguard* and *Peaky Blinders* became global hits precisely because of this hybrid approach. But the economics of streaming have soured. Wall Street is no longer rewarding subscriber growth at all costs; they’re demanding profit. And the fastest way to boost profit is to own the Intellectual Property outright. Netflix doesn’t want to rent British creativity for a few years; it wants to own it forever and ever, amen.
